West End airport says proposed cell tower is a hazard

Local flying club members have concerns that a proposed cell tower in Hamilton Township will endanger pilots landing at their small grass-runway airport.

CHRIS REBER

Local flying club members have concerns that a proposed cell tower in Hamilton Township will endanger pilots landing at their small grass-runway airport.

The Hamilton Township zoning hearing board recently voted 4-1 to approve the tower on a hill just south of Route 209 near the Chestnuthill Diner.

Pilots at Pegasus Airpark, less than a mile northwest of the site, say the tower would be placed on a hill in the middle of the flight pattern that planes use to land at the airport.

"They couldn't have positioned it worse," pilot Rich Blakeslee said. "The only thing worse would have been if they would have proposed it at the end of the runway."

Pegasus is operated by the Stroudsburg chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Some pilots keep their planes in small hangars on site.

It's also used by medical helicopters and glider planes making emergency landings, pilot Fred Duckloe said.

Planes landing at Pegasus always approach the same way: flying in from the southwest, making a 180-degree left turn and descending as they come back to the airport, then landing facing toward the west.

Pilots say it's what the FAA recommends for airports without control towers, and the prevailing winds from the west make landing easier.

Based on its location just southeast of the airport, pilots say it will be directly in the "downwind leg" of their approach, where they begin the 180-degree turn.

Pilots said it will be especially dangerous for low-wing aircraft, where the wings prevent them from seeing obstructions below.

"Once you get into the downwind, the tower is actually below my line of sight, I won't actually know I'm too low until I hit it," Blakeslee said.

It could be an even bigger problem for gliders from nearby Beltzville Airport, who use the airport for emergency landings and are often at a lower altitude than powered planes.

"You're not focused on obstructions, you're focused on making sure you land on the runway and not in the trees," Duckloe said.

The club has been fighting the tower, but the zoners' decision was a big blow to their efforts.

The board voted 4-1 in favor of the tower. The only dissenter was John Parker Jr., a private pilot.

Duckloe appeared before the board every month from January to April, but when he attempted to testify, T-Mobile's attorney objected and the board agreed.

According to board solicitor Marc Wolfe, the hearing record had been closed at the December meeting, but the hearing wasn't officially closed because T-Mobile still needed to provide an expert to testify on the impact on surrounding properties.

In his report at the April meeting, T-Mobile's expert did not discuss Pegasus.

Pegasus has received letters of support from the Experimental Aviation Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and pilots and glider pilots who have used the airport.

T-Mobile still needs formal approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, but the pilots aren't optimistic that the FAA will save them.

If the airport was public, the FAA would not allow an obstruction like the tower, but because it's privately owned, they will not intervene.

"There really is no difference between a private airport and a public airport as far as the way you operate in and out of it. That's by law," said Tony Bartolo, a long-time Monroe County commercial and military pilot. "Other than the fact that you don't have the protection of the federal government saying you can't build a tower there."

Duckloe emphasized that Pegasus is a private "club" airport. Members can rent out hangar space for their planes or project aircraft they're working on.

The club, led by members who are certified mechanics, takes on project aircraft.

In 2011, they completed a four-year project building a plane from a kit, and another project is underway.

They mow the grass runway with a tractor and a 1920s-era "gang mower" that was actually made in Stroudsburg by the Worthington Co.

"The best thing about this place is we have no adult supervision," Duckloe said.

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